Into the Darkness
by DahliaRose83
Summary: Alaric woke slowly, not sure what had disturbed his sleep. Blinking he opened his eyes and jumped when he found Damon in bed next to him... (Fourth part of my Dalaric-Series)


**Here is part four of my Dalaric Series. This time from Alaric´s POV again. Many thanks to "lesroisdumonde" for the lovely review on the last part. I`m really glad you like my series.**

**I used some parts from the actual episode in this, but changed it to fit my version. Please let me know what you think.**

Into the darkness

Alaric woke slowly, not sure what had disturbed his sleep. Blinking he opened his eyes and jumped when he found Damon in bed next to him. A smile spread over the vampire´s face and he murmured. "Morning sunshine."

Ric frowned. Judging by the dim sunlight that filtered through the curtains it had to be early morning. Damon never stayed in bed until he awoke, no matter what had happened the night before. He left the room as quietly as he had entered, either sneaking down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast or going home. Also he couldn`t remember going to bed with the vampire last night.

"What are you doing here?" The words had slipped out before he could think about it. Damon raised an eyebrow at him, sat up and turned away. Alaric noticed for the first time that he was fully clothed. Black jeans, black shirt and the trademark black leather jacket. A glance at the clock told him that it was indeed early morning. 6 am to be exact. Sighing he sat up as well. "Sorry, didn`t mean to be harsh." he mumbled. Damon had caught him off guard. Again. „You just surprised me, is all."

Damon accepted his apology with a shrug. "I know where Stefan is." he said, surprising Alaric once more. "Okay." Ric murmured, not sure where this was going. Although he had an idea. "I could use some help getting him home." the vampire admitted, confirming Ric`s suspicion. "All right. Where are we going?" the teacher asked. Finally Damon turned back to him. This time his cheery smile seemed a bit forced. "Windy city."

Ric nodded. "Chicago? Okay. Just give me a couple of minutes to get dressed and pack a few things." In his mind he was already planning, hoping they would be back by Monday. If not he`d just have to call in sick. He wouldn`t let Damon do this alone. But then another thought struck him.

"What about Elena? Do you think we should take her with us?" The vampire shrugged. "She`ll be pissed if we don`t." he pointed out. Ric nodded. "Very. And if she suspects something she might follow us anyway." Even if they didn`t tell her where they were going, that girl had ways of finding out. After all she was friends with a rather powerful witch and the sheriff`s daughter. So maybe it was better to let her come with them. At least then they could keep an eye on her.

"Right. Get dressed. I`ll tell her." Damon decided. He left the room without waiting for Ric`s reply. Minutes later the teacher could hear him bickering with Elena in her room. He couldn`t make out the words, but Damon`s playful tone was enough to set off a spark of jealousy he desperately tried to ignore.

The vampire might come to him seeking comfort, might spend the night in his bed and occasionally even allow Alaric a glimpse of his true feelings. But in the end he would always run back to Elena. Because it would always be Elena. And the worst thing was that Ric couldn`t even blame him. Elena was beautiful, strong and determined. Despite all the horrible things she`d had to go through so far she had never given up, never lost hope. Never stopped seeing the best in everyone. He could only admire her strength.

He on the other hand was broken. He drank too much, he neglected his job and he was stuck taking care of two kids who were a lot stronger than he was, but nonetheless looked up to him and he would probably screw it up. Still he couldn`t shake off the jealousy he felt every time he saw Damon and Elena joking around or bickering with each other.

His thoughts drifted back to their disastrous attempt at saving Stefan in the Smokey Mountains a couple of days ago. He had known it was a bad idea from the start, but he couldn`t let Elena go alone. So he`d accompanied her and secretly called Damon for back up. The vampire had promised to come without hesitation. He had also told Alaric to get Elena to safety should things turn out bad.

And while Ric understood his concern for Elena`s well-being, shared it even, he couldn`t deny that the vampire`s request had hurt. But he hadn`t said a thing. And then things had turned out bad, really bad. And Ric had gotten Elena to the relative safety of the car, had stayed with her, while Damon was out there somewhere, playing bait for a bunch of werewolves.

He had been so relieved when the vampire finally joined them, unharmed and sarcastic as ever. But again he hadn`t said a word. Not when Damon caught up to them at the car and not when the vampire crawled into his bed later that night.

"Hey Ric, ready to go?" the vampire in question startled him out of his thoughts. Alaric zipped his bag closed, carefully schooling his features before he turned to face Damon. "Yep, let`s go." They met Elena in the kitchen, where she scribbled a hasty note for Jeremy.

A few minutes later they got into Damon`s car, Alaric in the passenger seat, Elena in the back. For a while they drove in silence, until Damon suddenly pulled a diary out of his pocket, held it out to Elena Elena and demanded she read it. "Paints a pretty little picture of Stefan's first experience in Chicago." The brunette refused to take it. Her arms stubbornly crossed she shook her head. "It's Stefan's diary. I'm not going to invade his private thoughts."

The vampire rolled his eyes. "You need to be prepared for what you're about to see." But Elena insisted that she had seen Stefan`s dark side and would be able to handle it. Ric wasn`t so sure. She may have seen Stefan`s dark side, but she had never seen him as ripper, hadn`t seen the bodies he left behind. Obviously Damon thought the same thing, because he opened the diary and started reading some of it to them in a ridiculous high pitched voice.

"I've blacked out days. I wake up in strangers' blood, in places I don't recognize with women I don't remember." Pausing he half turned to look at Elena. "Ahh! I'm shocked! Stefan's not a virgin?" Alaric rolled his eyes at the vampire`s antics and snatched the book from him. "Eyes on the road, Damon."

"Thank you." Elena smiled at him. "Don`t thank me. I`m actually on his side in this. You should read some of that. I just didn`t want Damon to crash the car. His driving is reckless enough when he`s actually looking at the road." His words caused Elena to pout and Damon to protest, that he`d been driving cars long before Alaric was born and that he loved his car way too much to crash it.

The teacher decided to ignore both of them and opened the diary only to have it snatched away from him by Elena. He turned and gave her a glare. After staring at each other for a few seconds she huffed and started reading. Satisfied he turned back to find Damon grinning at him. "Alright. Back to my game. Tell me if you see a Florida plate." Ric shook his head, but he couldn`t stop the smile forming on his lips.

The drive was rather uneventful. Elena kept pouting, but she read a few pages of the diary, getting paler by the minute. Ric felt bad for her, but she had to know what she was getting herself into. And he was pretty sure she could handle it. She had already handled worse.

He and Damon did end up playing Damon`s stupid game for a while and of course there was the occasional bickering between Damon and Elena and also between Damon and him. They stopped once for gas and again to get food.

Thanks to Damon`s reckless driving and his complete ignorance concerning speed limits they reached Chicago by early afternoon. The vampire parked in front of a run down apartment building. "Stefan could live anywhere in Chicago and he chose this?" Elena mumbled, looking around as they entered the building. Ric wondered the same thing, but he figured a vampire on a rampage had to keep a low profile.

"There used to be an all-girls high school around the corner, but it shut down for attendance issues. Weird." Damon told them with a grin. Of course Elena didn`t appreciate his humor. Damon broke the lock on one of the doors and opened it. "Here we are. Stefan's second personality home." They looked around, all of them noticing the dust that had gathered.

Damon went over to one of the walls and opened a hidden door. Ric could see a room full of alcohol. "Stefan hid his alcohol. What a monster." Elena said sarcastically. But the vampire only told her to look harder. Alaric joined her in the small room and they noticed a list of names, scribbled onto the wall. She was quicker at making the connection than he was. "These are all of his victims?"

"Still handling it?" Damon asked quietly. The teacher shuddered at the mass of names, while Elena chose to bicker with Damon again. When she turned away in disgust, Damon motioned for Ric to follow him. "Where are you going?" the brunette`s voice stopped them. "His old stomping ground." Damon told her. Of course she insisted on coming with them, but both men would have none of it. "You stay here and whip up an actual plan. We'll come back when we find him." the vampire promised. To Alaric`s surprise she actually complied.

The two men drove to a bar a few blocks away from the apartment. "It`s owned by a witch. At least it was back in the twentys." Damon told Ric. Upon entering they were greeted by a beautiful dark-skinned woman with short hair. "Well, look what the wind blew in. Last I heard, you hated this place. And now you`re bringing a friend along?" Damon gave her his most charming grin. "Gloria. Damn! If I knew you were going to age like this, I would have stuck around."

She smiled at his flattering. "I always did like you better. But I see your brother is still running in the wrong crowd." Damon and Alaric exchanged a quick glance. Could it really be that easy? A little hesitatingly Damon asked Gloria if she had seen his brother. "With Klaus. Bad combo." she affirmed their suspicions.

"Do you know where they went?" Ric asked, deciding to join in the conversation. The woman raised an eyebrow at him, but answered nonetheless. "They'll be back here later tonight. They're out running a little errand for me." Both men took a second to process this new piece of information. Then Damon stepped closer, touched her hand and tried to get more information out of her.

She frowned at him and removed her hand. "I don't think so. You may be cute, but you're still a vampire." Damon shot her a hurt look and tried again. But his pleading brought him nowhere.

Trying a different approach he pointed at Alaric. "He`s not a vampire. Maybe you want to tell him?" Ric gave her a charming smile. The one he usually used on mothers when he had to tell them their kids were failing. It always worked on the mothers, but it had no effect on Gloria.

"He may be human, but he´s your friend." she pointed out and refused to answer any more questions. Admitting defeat they left the bar.

"Hey, at least we know he will come back here." Ric tried to cheer the vampire up. Damon was about to say something, when the ringing of his cell phone interrupted them. He looked at the display with a frown, before answering it. "What, you came up with a plan already? Or did you just want to hear my voice?"

The teacher didn`t have to ask to know that he was talking to Elena. Within seconds all traces of mischief vanished from Damon`s face and Ric instantly worried. That look could only mean bad news. The vampire`s next words confirmed his fears. "But Klaus didn`t see you, did he?" He waited for Elena`s answer, before ordering: "Stay where you are. We`re on our way."

"Klaus?" Alaric asked, after the vampire had hung up. "He and Stefan were at the apartment. Stefan saw her, but Klaus didn`t." Damon told him. "Shit! We shouldn`t have left her alone." Ric cursed. "No kidding, Ric." the vampire spat. He didn`t give the teacher time to reply. Within seconds he was at the car, moving so fast Ric had trouble following him.

The drive back to the apartment was silent. Elena was grumbling at them the second they stepped through the door. Damon looked pissed, but he kept his temper in check. Although he wasn`t exactly nice to her. After the three of them had changed clothes the vampire told them his plan.

"He´s still with Klaus. So I'll distract Klaus and you two deal with Stefan." he decided. Ric didn`t like that plan. And he liked it even less when Damon said: "But you're going to have about five minutes tops before that hybrid freak rips my heart out. So please, tell me you can do this."

"I can do this." Elena stated confidently. Ric just nodded and hoped they would all get ouf of this alive.

They left the apartment about an hour later and drove back to the bar. Elena and Ric waited in the parking lot while Damon went inside to lure Stefan out. Alaric`s heart was beating wildly and he wondered how Elena managed to stay so calm.

Luckily they didn`t have to wait long. After only a few minutes they could hear the two brothers arguing. Elena hesitated only a second before moving closer. Ric followed slowly. They reached the Salvatore`s in time to hear Stefan say: "Tell Elena to go home and forget about me."

Damon didn`t answer right away. Instead he glanced behind Stefan and spied them. "Tell her yourself." Stefan turned around and saw the brunette. Damon nodded to Ric and went back into the bar. The teacher hung back and let Elena handle the situation. Stefan told her she shouldn`t be here, but she would hear none of that. "What do you want? Damon won't be able to distract Klaus for long." Stefan asked.

Being reminded of that only served to make Alaric all the more nervous. Elena moved closer and touched Stefan`s face. "Come home." Figuring that she had it under control, since the vampire was listening and not trying to attack her, Alaric decided to help Damon instead. Maybe he couldn`t do much, but he could at least provide another distraction. And it would be better if Klaus killed him than Damon. After all, his ring would revive him after a couple of hours.

He entered the bar just in time to see Klaus push Damon to the ground and raise a stake. Alaric rushed forward, but before he reached them the stake went up in flames. Klaus looked at Gloria with a frown, but the witch didn`t seem bothered. "Not in my bar. You take it outside." she ordered.

Ric used the hybrids momentary distraction to help Damon up, steadying him with a hand on his hip. Klaus turned away from Gloria and regarded them with amusement. "I remember you." he murmured. The teacher glared at him. "Should I feel honored now?" Grinning Klaus raked his eyes over the two of them and Ric wondered what he saw. How much of his feelings for Damon he had given away.

Looking directly at the vampire the hybrid stated: "You don't have to negotiate your brother's freedom. When I'm done with him, he won't want to go back. And now take your friend and leave. Or you both won`t be able to."

Damon stared at him for another second before freeing himself from Ric`s grasp and storming outside. The teacher followed him quickly, surprised when Damon suddenly stopped and got in his face. "What the hell, Ric? I told you to stay outside and help Elena. I thought I made myself clear!" Ric took a step back. "Calm down. She`s got it under control. I figured you could use my help more than she." he explained.

But Damon wasn`t about to calm down. "I didn`t need your help. And I certainly didn`t want it! There was no need for you to play the hero." Now Alaric was getting angry as well. While he had been concerned for the vampire, Damon only wanted to protect his precious Elena. Even if it killed him. "Sorry, I didn`t know you were the only one allowed to do stupid things to protect those you love!" he shot back, turning away and stomping to the car without giving the vampire a chance to reply.

Elena was waiting in the car, staring out the window, a faraway look on her face. She didn't react when they got in.

The journey home passed in icy silence. Elena kept staring out the window, though she couldn`t see anything in the darkness, until she finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep, curled up in the backseat. Ric was still angry at Damon and decided that for once the vampire had to take the first step. Damon however wasn`t even looking at him. After a while Ric fell asleep as well.

When he woke up again it was already morning and they were still on the road. "Would you like me to take over for a while?" he offered, already forgetting his resolution to wait for Damon to make a move. "No thanks. We`re almost there." was the stoic answer. Damon`s eyes didn`t stray from the road. He was obviously still angry, which in turn spiked Ric`s anger again. If the vampire decided to be childish and pout because Ric hadn`t obeyed his orders then fine. He wouldn`t bother again.

He spent the rest of the drive staring out of the window, silently berating himself for thinking Damon might actually see more in him than a drinking buddy and occasional distraction. The teacher breathed a sigh of relief when they finally reached the Gilbert home. After he and Elena had gotten out and retrieved their bags Damon sped off without so much as a goodbye. Shaking his head Alaric followed Elena inside.


End file.
